Cartons for carrying multiple articles, well known in the art, are useful for transporting, storing and providing consumers access to the articles, which oftentimes, are substantially cylindrical cans or bottles.
It is advantageous for cartons to conform to the contour of the containers within, for several reasons. Squared carton corners adjacent to rounded sides of substantially cylindrical containers leave voids that permit the corners to cave in if the carton is struck from the outside. The extent of contact between the inside surfaces of the carton and the sides of a substantially cylindrical container can be increased with rounded corners that closely conform to the curvature of the container. This increased contact area also increases the friction between the container and the carton so as to reduce the tendency of the container to spin inside the carton, which can cause scuffing of container labels and surfaces.
To provide cartons with conforming corners, typical cartons instead sacrifice surface area for adhesives that hold the walls of the carton together. Most cartons have minor flaps for receiving glue or other adhesives to secure the sides of the carton. The adhesives work best when disposed between substantially flat, i.e., parallel and linear, sheets of substrate. Consequently, minor flaps can be securely adhered to flat carton panels, but adhere less securely to panels that are curved.